Midtown Lunch

Last week the Cinnamon Snail truck started selling its vegan food in New York City five days a week after essentially being forced out of parking across the river in Hoboken and Jersey City. They were supposed to be in the Financial District on Thursday but were unable to find parking and instead made a surprise appearance on Monday on Wall St. I headed over for a late lunch and was impressed with how quickly the short line moved and the time it took for me to get my food despite only one guy handling the food. There are only approximations of meat served at this truck (along with a whole lot of delicious-looking vegan baked goods), and I ordered one to see what they were doing with seitan.

Read more »

I’m sure you all think I eat things like cheese steaks on a regular basis, but up until Phil’s Steaks launched its truck and started parking down here, our only options in the Financial District for this marriage of meat, cheese and bread was Carl’s Steaks (which isn’t even in the FiDi) or one of the varieties from street meat carts and delis that I’d just rather not chance. The only other time I’ve had one of these was in Philadelphia and it was so unmemorable that I can’t even remember where I got it from.

When the truck first launched, I had no time to stand in the long lines, and instead we got a take from some dedicated lunch’ers who did. One day last week I walked by and saw that the line seemed to be moving quickly, so I jumped in to see what all of the fuss on Twitter about these sandwiches is about.

Read more »

There are a lot of places over by the South St. Seaport that I forget about until someone reminds me, and Meade’s Bar is one of those places. It’s on an obscure corner that’s currently blocked by construction, and on the same block as a bunch of other cafes and a delightfully divey bar with equally cheap lunches and decoration consisting of bras. Last week Lunch’er Robyn mentioned her love of Meade’s burger with blue cheese, and a look at the bar’s menu showed a few of the sandwiches could be had for less than $10, including fries, salad or rice. That’s a bargain not often found in or near the Financial District. Read more »

Across the street from perpetually mobbed La Esquina you’ll find Hoomoos Asli on Kenmare St. (at Cleveland Pl.) which is the area’s answer to Crisp (that is until Taim opens its new flagship shop in Nolita) or a go-to falafel cart. The restaurant serves Israeli takes on pita sandwiches and platters and although the falafel and other vegetarian sandwiches are the cheapest options on the menu that’s often over $10, I zoned in on the chicken schnitzel sandwich and decided to make an fried addition for an extra $1.

Read more »

Up until a couple of months ago, there was a place called Shorties Deli Cafe on Church St. (btw. Leonard & Franklin) that was a taqueria masquerading as a generic deli selling the usual bagels and sandwiches. Those in the know went there for the burritos or tacos, but if you were simply walking by it wasn’t blatantly obvious that Mexican food was available within. Thankfully, whoever owns the place figured out they were doing a disservice to the delicious food served inside and changed the name to Burro Borracho Taqueria. Now when you walk in, there is no pretense that this is anything but a place selling Mexican food.

Read more »

A couple of months ago, word reached ML that the Urban Lobster Shack in Midtown East had a lobster roll involving bacon. It turns out that the location on Stone St. (btw. Broad & Whitehall) also has this bacon lobster roll for $13, which is a couple of dollars more than the regular roll combo. It would appear it’s a roll with a strip of bacon inside, so whether that’s a good or bad addition is up to you to decide. I’m still a fan of their lobster scampi roll which is sounding pretty great in this warmer weather.

This winter hasn’t really been a nasty one, and so it is that at the beginning of March when it’s 60 degrees out, I think nothing of heading to an outdoor kiosk for lunch. Snac’Meal is next to Centre Melts on the northeast side of the 1 Centre St. building and has a hodgepodge of a menu for both breakfast and lunch that includes sandwiches, soup, falafel, shish kebab, pita pizza and curly fries. It was the “Spanish torta” sandwich that caught my attention, partly for the lunchtime price of $3.95 ($3.50 before 11 a.m.) and the fact that you could pair it with curly fries for an extra $1.50.

Read more »